Public procurement for a better environment.

This policy document lays down strategies to promote green public procurement (GPP) to enable more sustainable consumption and promote eco-innovation, whilst increasing the competitiveness of the EU economy. The general objective of this policy is to provide guidance on how to reduce the environmental impact caused by public sector consumption and to use green public procurement to stimulate innovation in environmental technologies, products and services. The Commission has identified ten priority sectors for GPP, including the food, transport, and energy sectors. The specific objectives of this policy are: (I) setting common GPP criteria with the aim of achieving more and better GPP; (II) information on life cycle costing of products; (III) legal and operational guidance for implementing GPP; and (IV) political support through national GPP strategies and increased cooperation, and in particular when implementing EU funding mechanisms.